DEAR TIM: The granite countertops in my kitchen seem to be moving away from the wall or at least they are moving around a bit. The attached picture shows the results. The house isn't even one-year old yet. Is there a way I can secure the granite to keep it from moving? Or, is something […]
DEAR TIM: Pieces of granite tile countertop edge at my kitchen sink have fallen off. None of the pieces of granite have been damaged or cracked. I need a simple fix to reinstall the tiles. Is there a way to do this so the tiles will stay attached to the wood substrate for years and […]
DEAR TIM: It's 3:00 AM and I'm wondering how I'm going to resolve an issue in a few hours with a tile installer. First, the shading and color of all the tiles doesn't match. In the photo I sent, the one I circled is what the tile at the showroom looked like. Many others have […]
Terri Williams has a perplexing dilemma with dirty kitchen floor tiles in her Baton Rouge, LA home. Allow her to give you the story. Tell me in the comment section below if you picked up on the most important clue she shared in her description. I believe I know exactly what's going on. Let's see if […]
Shane Nelson is doing some plumbing work in Centre, Alabama. He's a pretty good artist and drew a diagram of his proposed bathroom plumbing vents and drain pipes. Look at it after his question. Here's what he wrote to me: "I am enclosing my garage and installing a bathroom in the process. Is the vent […]
Eric M. Sokolowski and his wife, I think, have trouble in Tukwila, Washington. They have to tile over bad concrete and are stuck on what to do. Here's Eric's full report: "Hi Tim, We want to replace the kitchen/foyer tile in our 1993 condo. We already knew the subfloor was some type of soft concrete that […]
Barb Havens and her husband are building a house in Eldora, Iowa. He's just finished installing the tile in a cozy sunroom and Barb wants to know how much to grout at one time. Can the entire floor be done the same day? Here's what she sent to me. Look at the photo above too. "How […]
Deb Teitelbaum lives in Phoenix, AZ. Her daughter, who I assume also lives in the Valley of the Sun, had a contractor get grout all over her new cabinets. Read about the saga: "My daughter had new travertine tile installed in her home in February, 2015. The contractor's sub got grout on the base of a […]
Clare Horvath and her husband live in Newtown, CT. She wants to tile over her acrylic shower base. Read what she sent me: "We have a shower stall that the previous owner added an acrylic floor to. It does not flex and appears to be very solid. Can I tile it? As you can see the […]
DEAR TIM: I'm replacing my bath exhaust fan. The old fan was vented through the soffit. I don't believe I have an attic as there seems to be no access to the space. My roof is sloped but my bath ceiling is flat. What's the best way to exhaust the fan out through the soffit? […]
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